Now without further ado, the first chapter in the chronicles of an urban explorer.
NSH - Morning Horror
The weekend prior to last Mike and I embarked on our journey to what I would say out of all our exploration adventures so far, is the mother of all abandoned hospitals. We had decided to leave very early in the morning so we could approach the hospital grounds with the cover of night still on our side. There are countless security horror stories floating around the interwebs regarding the security that does patrol the grounds of the hospital. The majority of these stories are obviously pretty non-believable with the contextual gist of the writings, but I chose to do my homework and take the chance in contacting people who have successfully eluded security and had the privelege of walking through the tunnels of this infamous location. I'm very thankful to all those who responded to my inquiries and took the time to talk to me in great depth about this location.
Waking at 3am and out the door by 3:30am, I went out to my parking lot to find a horrific surprise. Our rental was not in the parking space where I had left it. My complex has very strict rules about parking, and all the spaces are marked. Not marked very well, as the paint on the cement for most spaces is just about completely worn away. I had parked the car in a space that I wasn't entirely sure was for visitor parking. Unmarked visitor spaces are mixed in with marked resident spaces, so it's very difficult to determine which is someone's space and which isn't. Residents do claim visitor spaces as their own.
I had almost, ALMOST moved the car before going to sleep but opted not to because I had previously parked in those spaces before without problem. I will forever kick myself for not following my first instinct. I guess my luck in that department ran out because yes, some motherfucker in the other building did the stinky thing of calling the maintenance office at 10pm to have the car towed for being in what is indeed their space. So at 3:30am, I came out to a complete rush of horror to see the car missing.
Thankfully we were able to use a friend's car to fly to the next town over to claim the car and be raped out of $156 to rescue the rental from the towing company's lot. The whole ordeal put us about an hour behind schedule and would put us on the grounds in the first hour of sunlight, but that didn't deter us. By 5am we were on the highway and heading to our destination.
The Exploration
Norwich State Hospital is everything you hear about. The extensive tunnel system, wheelchairs, beds with the mattresses and pillows still on them, theaters, old equipment forgotten and left behind to rot, patient cells and wards everywhere. Many of the buildings despite their decay are literally frozen in time. Many of them look exactly like something out of a scary movie. We spent an enormous amount of time exploring the buildings and finding our way around in the tunnels, thanks to me leaving the map behind in the car. Towards the end of our trip and in one of the last buildings we explored, we found grounds maps on one of the desks left behind by a previous group of explorers. Whoever you guys are, thank you!
lolWe only explored maybe about a quarter of what NSH has to offer. The exploration itself was very physically exerting and exhausting. Many of the buildings we quickly skimmed through, and many of them we simply skipped over because we were getting very tired. We were absolutely amazed and in awe of the time warp we were walking through, the sheer size of the complex, the way so many of the buildings that have been left dormant all these years are slowly returning to the earth on which they were built on. The tree growing in the theater, the moss overtaking the floors in some of the buildings. One of the funniest parts of our trip was Mike's determination at trying to get one of the metal bins of survival crackers open. Those suckers were rusted shut. I wish we had gotten one open, because he was going to eat one to see what it tasted like 46 years after production. LOL
Thank you, Norwich! We hope to see you again!
I loved every second of our trip and I wish we could rush right back. I also wish that instead of leaving the buildings to rot and eventually be torn down, as that is most likely going to be the fate of Norwich State Hospital, that the campus or at least part of it had been turned into a museum like Eastern State Penn. I hate to see history succumb to the evolution of time like this.
I work with someone who had a family member that was a patient of Norwich State Hospital. I can't wait to see him, and tell him of our exploration, as he knew we were going. He told me all about his family's visits to his relative in Norwich, and how much that hospital means to him. He radiated with joy at his fond memories of visiting his relative in Norwich, and told me stories of his visits. Norwich holds no dark and dismal past for him, and I am honestly happy to hear the tales of the good that came from Norwich State Hospital for the criminally insane. For me it makes the place feel more real rather than uncertain with only the tales of lore. I love having been given this small slice of true history thanks to the gentleman I work with.
Yes, Norwich does have a dark and morbid past. I've read several historical newspaper articles on it, and I've plenty more to read. Plenty more to research in fact, because my ultimate goal with all my adventures is to research the locations I've visited, write about them, and be published. I've learned with my exploring that while it's certainly fun, exciting and scary to entertain the ideas of the worst of all possible happenings in an abandoned mental asylum, reading the true stories and hearing it told to you first-hand from a person that's been there while it was in operation brings the place to life even more, and gives you a true insight into what once took place in the halls and rooms that you walk through and photograph. It makes the location feel truly special.
I've been on the edge of my seat since this excursion, waiting to go back and capture and re-capture parts I missed and the parts we haven't yet explored. This time, I need to apply my awe to the camera instead of standing there in the room with my jaw literally hanging open and the wave of excitement, adrenaline, shock, surprise, delight... Those feelings paralyzed me as I stepped into NSH 03. I needed a swift kick to my ass to press that shutter, Christine! PRESS IT!!!!
This weekend we're returning. And the days can't pass quick enough.
